Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2011

Information on earlier actions as well as on the anti-coal movement in particular states or countries can be found at the following articles:
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2010
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2009
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2008
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2004-2007
 * Coal Finance Day of Action
 * Coal Activist Videos
 * Coal Activist Videos: Direct Action
 * Coal Activist Videos: Mountaintop removal
 * State-by-State Guide to Information on Coal in the United States
 * International Information on Coal
 * Citizen groups working on coal issues - 350+ groups
 * Power companies and agencies in the United States

Background
Nonviolent direct action - a term which, in contemporary social movements, is usually used to refer to acts of civil disobedience, in which activists blockade or occupy public or private space - has become an increasingly common tactic of anti-coal climate activists since 2005. While Greenpeace has used direct action tactics since the 1970's, since 2004 other climate justice, Appalachian environmental justice and anti-mountaintop removal movements (such as Rising Tide, Rainforest Action Network, Earth First!, Mountain Justice Summer, and indigenous groups) have used direct action tactics in order to escalate pressure on coal mining and power companies, financial institutions which invest in coal companies, and government officials that support the coal industry. Anti-coal activists have staged dozens of such direct actions in the past few years, many of which have been highly successful at directing public attention toward the growing anti-coal movement.

Definition and history of nonviolent direct action
The term "direct action" refers to political activities which attempt to bring about changes in the world in a direct and unmediated way. This concept of mediation is key to the distinction, drawn by many proponents of direct action, between direct and symbolic action: in a symbolic action, participants appeal to government officials or other power-holders to make changes on their behalf, while, in a direct action, participants directly make the changes that they want to see in the world.

Several categories of political and economic activities can thus be understood as direct actions:


 * 1) Strikes or boycotts against economic authorities
 * 2) Blockades and occupations of physical spaces
 * 3) Destruction of property or resources
 * 4) Violent resistance against authorities
 * 5) Building alternatives to existing social/economic relationships

February 11, 2011: Wendell Berry Joins Retired Coal Miners and Residents in Kentucky Rising Capitol Sit-in
On Friday, February 11, 2011, poet and activist Wendell Berry joined a group of affected coalfield residents, retired coal miners and bestselling authors have launched a sit-in in the office of Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to oppose the practice of mountaintop removal.


 * “I feel good about our conversation with governor because he made our difference very plain and clean cut. He thinks that all we have on our side are our own personal opinions, and that he evidently has on his side established governmental policy," Wendell Berry was quoted as saying after meeting with Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. "And he thinks that surface mining can be done without harm to the land or streams or the people. It’s very plain to me that nobody on our side thinks that it is true because they’ve seen the results with their eyes or experienced the results in their own families and homes. I would say moreover that the idea here that two sides can legitimately disagree is simply wrong. I don’t think there can be a legitimate disagreement about the destruction of ecosystems and watersheds.”

Protesters left the Governor's office on the morning of Monday, February 14, 2011. A total of 14 people participated in the weekend long sit-in. Protester and Morehead State University Professor John Hennen stated that when the group of activists spoke with Gov. Beshear the two sides did not come to an agreement, but the governor said he'd visit coal fields and residents in Eastern Kentucky, an area affected by mountaintop removal.

“He heard some of our concerns and consented to come and visit some of the coal fields and meet with coal residents in eastern Kentucky whose lives and properties have been directly damaged,” said Prof. Hennen.

February 17, 2011: Greenpeace Activists Climb Coal Plan in Connecticut
On Feb. 17, 2011, Greenpeace activists scaled the Bridgeport Harbor coal plant and unfurled a 20 X 40 ft banner with the message "Shut it Down: Quit Coal." The event marked the first major action of Greenpeace's 'Quit Coal' campaign, which seeks to highlight the devastating consequences of continuing to rely on the fossil fuel in the United States. According to Greenpeace, the Bridgeport Harbor plant is an old, polluting coal plant that is no longer necessary to provide power to the Connecticut grid, and should be shut down to mitigate the worst effects of global climate change.

Police cut the banner down, and at least five activists were reportedly arrested for their connection with the event.

February 22, 2011: Washington University students shut down "clean coal" meeting
On Feb. 22, 2011, a National Coal Council meeting in downtown St. Louis was canceled following a protest from Washington University Green Action. Directly after council members had finished taking roll call, students from Green Action and Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment entered the meeting at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. The students unfurled a banner proclaiming, “Coal is never clean” and sang, “Clean coal is a dirty lie.” The group was escorted from the hotel by two officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Hilton’s head of security had not yet arrived at the event. Following the disturbance, the council chose to cancel the meeting. The National Coal Council is a federal advisory committee to the U.S. secretary of energy. The meeting, which was open to the public, was intended to review an ongoing study on the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies. The CEOs of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy and Arch Coal are both on the council and are members of the University’s board of trustees. After being escorted out, Green Action members continued their protest outside of the Hilton, where they engaged with passersby and various news outlets.

February 23, 2011: Protests in Utah against Longview Terminal
On Feb. 23, 2011, clean-energy backers rallied outside the Salt Lake City office of Australian company Ambre Energy to oppose the company's proposed port expansion of the Millennium Bulk Logistics Longview Terminal. Millennium Bulk Terminals (MBT), a subsidiary of Ambre Energy, owns the existing bulk commodity terminal on the Columbia River near Longview, Washington, and is seeking approval to use it for the export of coal to Asia. Protestors were also supporting climate activist Tim DeChristopher, who will soon face trial for disrupting a federal oil and gas lease sale. DeChristopher’s Peaceful Uprising group, along with the Rainforest Action Network, sponsored the rally.

February 28, 2011: Massive protest against Phulbari and Barpukuria mines in Bangladesh
On February 28, 2011, roughly 2,000 protesters blockaded a highway in the Phulbari region of Bangladesh, location of the proposed Phulbari Coal Project. The protesters demanded that the government honor a six-point agreement signed in 2006. The agreement bans open pit coal mining throughout Bangladesh and calls for the permanent expulsion of GCM Resources from the country. Demonstrators also demanded rehabilitation for lands damaged by land subsidence around the Barapukuria Coal Mine.

April 2011: Rising Tide North America stages bank protest in Portland, Oregon
On Sunday, April 2, 2011, activists affiliated with Portland's Rising Tide chapter targeted major banks in the Portland metro areas as a call to them to divest from the fossil fuel infrastructure, including coal. The banks included Wells Fargo and Bank of America for this investments in practices such as mountaintop removal. Some participants staged a "die-in" on sidewalks while others used mud to stick "dirty money" to bank walls and windows, letting customers know the banks were "closed for climate crimes". No arrests were reported.

April 2011: Activists Stage Sit-in at Dept. of Interior in Washington D.C.
On April 18, 2011 over a thousand climate activists marched to the Department of the Interior’s headquarters in Washington DC, with 21 people being arrested after they committed civil disobedience inside inside the building where they performed a sit-in. The group called for the abolition of offshore oil drilling, coal mining and tar sands extraction.

“The Dept. of Interior has been allowing the killing of my community and Appalachia’s mountains by the coal industry for decades,” said Junior Walk from Boone County, West Virginia. “King Coal has poisoned Appalachia with toxic water, toxic air and toxic waste. It’s time for real action, not merely political posturing. I commend these fiery activists taking risks and making change for our communities and the climate.”

It was reported that the group was led by residents of residents of the Gulf Coast, Appalachia and the interior West – regions the group stated is directly impacted by oil, gas and coal extractive industries. Participants called for the Obama Administration and the federal agency to phase out harmful mining and drilling practices and facilitate transitions to sustainable local energy systems.

May 2011: Activists stop coal barge, climb on coal plant in Illinois
On May 24, 2011, Greenpeace activists stopped a coal barge from the Pulaski Bridge, displaying a banner on the river bridge that said “We can stop coal” and “Nosotros podemos parar el carbόn.” Dangling above the water, the presence of the activists prevented three coal barges from passing, according to the activsts. From the bridge, the activists proclaimed to Edison International that people have the right to choose clean energy for their communities. They demanded that Edison International shut down the Fisk and Crawford plants. In spring 2011, the Chicago City Council failed to vote on the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, which would have forced the plants to clean up or shut down.

In a separate action the same day, Greenpeace activists climbed the smokestack of the Fisk Generating Station and unfurled yellow banners with "Quit Coal" printed on them. After several hours atop the structure, several of the climbers rappelled down the smokestack and painted the same words on it. The eight activists were arrested and released on bail on May 26, and are scheduled to appear in court on July 1, 2011. They are charged with felony criminal damage to property.

June 2011: March on Blair Mountain
June 6, 2011 began a 5-day march on Blair Mountain in West Virginia to draw attention to a historic labor battle, the Battle of Blair Mountain, and to prevent the destruction of the historic site - Blair Mountain - through mountaintop removal mining.

In 1921, 10,000 unionizing coal miners battled police and armed guards on the mountain, making the conflict the largest armed uprising since the Civil War and only ending when federal troops intervened. The miners sought the right to be paid by the hour and not by the ton, a 5-day work week, and fair and equal pay. At least 16 men perished in the event before the miners surrendered to federal troops on September 5, 1921.

Appalachia Rising and supporters hoped to tell the story of the coal miners who fought for principles that helped shape modern U.S. labor laws. Additionally, they hoped to keep Blair Mountain from becoming subject to mountaintop removal mining. According to Appalachia Rising's March on Blair Mountain's website, the march was intended as "a peaceful, unifying event involving environmental justice organizations, union workers, scholars, artists, and other citizen groups. Today, Blair Mountain, like dozens of other historic mountains throughout the region, is being threatened by mountaintop removal and it is here that a new generation of Appalachians takes a stand. By working to preserve this mountain we are demanding an end to the destructive practices of MTR that threatens to strip Central Appalachia of its history, its economic potential and its health."

Participants in the 5-day march sought to protect the historic battlefield by putting it on the National Register of Historic Places. Such a designation would not automatically stop mining, but it would slow down the review process. Surprisingly, the battlefield on Blair Mountain was once briefly on the National Register of Historic Places. It was later removed by a federal law that barring sites from inclusion if the majority of the landowners object. After a review of the dissenters, state and federal agencies reviewing the case ruled that the opponents dominated.

The 2011 memorial march began in Marmet and continued over 50 miles and 5 days, traversing narrow country roads used now by coal trucks. The route is the same one coal miners took in the summer of 1921.

July 2011: Direct action halts coal seam gas rig in Australia
On July 5, 2011 the NSW Nature Conservation Council released a statement stating that peaceful protesters stopped a coal seam gas exploration rig in the Pilliga Forest, south of Narrabri, Australia. One protester in climbing gear was suspended high above the ground at the top of a 25 metre rig at an Eastern Star Gas operation, with another group of protesters on site. Local groups Friends of the Pilliga and the Northern Inland Council for the Environment, and Newcastle-based Rising Tide conducted the action to highlight the environmental costs of Eastern Star’s proposed 1100 gas well project in the Pilliga Forest.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2008
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2004-2007
 * Nonviolent direct actions against coal
 * Citizen groups working on coal issues
 * State-by-State Guide to Information on Coal in the United States
 * Proposed coal plants
 * Coal plant cancellations
 * What happened to the 151 proposed coal plants?
 * Coal Activist Videos
 * West Virginia and coal